The Journey is the Destination

new orleans

Budget cuts, library closures, layoffs, what’s the good news? Well, in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina the American Library association was the first group to hold a conference in New Orleans. To this day, my friends and family who live there have made comments about how amazing librarians are for bringing some semblance of normality back to NOLA for just a brief weekend. As an organization we have made some great impact on the community of New Orleans. So, while most of the cleanup is done from Katrina, and much of cleanup is underway from the BP spill we can show our continued support for the residents of NOLA and hopefully they will see the need to support libraries and librarians like you.

This is the ALA Advocacy Freeze. Where we get out of the echo chamber of the conference and show that Libraries and Communities can and should continue to support each other. The plan is to have a large convergence of librarians at Jackson Square at 5:45 on Sunday. All participants should wear some kind of library related t-shirt, pose in some position, or bring something that identifies them as a librarian. All participants will converge on the park grounds at 5:45 for the mob and freeze from 5:50-5:53 to show our large presence at ALA and show that we care about the community of NOLA and that communities should care about Libraries. Afterwards we’re encouraging everyone to get out into the restaurants and bars and make a ruckus in NOLA! #partyhard

Andy Woodworth’s suggestion for creating your own t-shirts with facts about libraries is epic. You can buy a fabric pen and a T-shirt at any hobby store or even a Walmart or Target for next to nothing. Just write a great fact about libraries and their support for communities across the United States.

If you’re not a DIY kinda person, there are also many great shirts available online through stores like http://www.cafepress.com/Libraryadvocacy. Purchases from this store go to fund other library advocacy projects. If you know of other great online stores or good clothing/designs please post them below!!

If you’re not familiar with a Freeze mob you can see many examples on youtube but here is another good one.

This is an off the books kinda ALA event. ALA is not involved in the planning of this at all. This is a #MIH happen event brought to you by the ALA Think Tank.